Sensory Overload
by neon rain
Summary: If someone had told them when they first met that they would fall in love with each other, they would have laughed in that person's face. But now, after years of working and fighting side-by-side, Byakuya and Renji come to realize that their relationship
1. Sight

A/N: Hey there! I'm Neon Rain, and this is my first fanfic. Not my first fic ever, just the first one I've ever posted anywhere. So, anyway, this story is called Sensory Overload and is gonna be a 5-part thing, each chapter titled after one of the five senses. I absolutely _love_ ByaRen(or RenBya) and when this idea came to me, I was so excited! This whole thing was actually spawned from the phrase "Renji had never considered himself a luck man - that was Ikkaku's thing - but neither was he terribly unlucky". I just wanted an excuse to use that sentence. haha! X3 This story takes place from the time Renji became Lieutenant of 6th to some years after the Aizen incident ends. Thanks for reading, hope you like it! :D (don't worry, after this, my author's notes won't be _nearly_ this long)

P.S.: Fellow ByaRen/RenBya fans... you are awesome!

P.P.S.: To anyone who can correctly guess the order of the senses as chapters, if you have an idea for a later chapter, i'll do my best to try to write it in. Or, if you just want to just try to guess and don't have a suggestion, that's fine and I'll message you back and tell you if you got it right or not. XD (Hint: Keep in mind that this is the _development_ of their relationship over time, not just; "Hey! You're hot, I'm hot, let's have hot sex".)

Summary: If someone had told them after they first met that they would fall in love with each other, they would have laughed in that person's face. But now, after years of working and fighting side-by-side, Byakuya and Renji come to realize that their relationship is not quite as straightforward as it may seem.

Disclaimer: I own the idea for this story and Gon Taizawa. I don't own Bleach and I'm learning the hard way that begging and stalking Tite Kubo leads to restaining orders, not ownership. Damn. XD Rated M for later chapters...blah-de-blah, the usual disclaimer-y stuff... This _does_ contain yaoi, and if you don't know what that is or don't like yaoi, what on earth are you doing clicking on an M-rated fic where the two main characters are men in the first place?

* * *

_.:SENSORY OVERLOAD:._

_.: Sight :._

"…Sir…?"

No answer.

"Sir."

A quiet mumble was barely audible as it issued from somewhere within the tangle of blankets and vibrant hair; but still no movement.

"Third-seat, Abarai-san."

"Guh-huh!? Wha...?", was the intelligent response from the redhead as he started awake at the sound of his own name, jolting his face from the oh-so-soft pillow with the nice down stuffing and the silky pillowcase that smelled like his shampoo and the warm sheets… and that nice dream he'd been having… just a few more minutes was all he needed… His eyelids drooped back down along with his head.

"Abarai-san, I have a message."

Groaning and cracking his eyes open once again, Renji finally looked over to the edge of his bed and managed to focus somewhat blearily on the figure kneeling at his bedside. He wore the official messenger's uniform, visually proclaiming his allegiance to the sixth division's main office. The red-head glanced upward, noting through the window above the head of his bed that the sun hadn't even risen yet. He sighed mournfully for his lost sleep and pushed himself up so that he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the rumpled bed.

"What is it?" he asked the messenger as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Sir! I have a message directly from the office of Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Late last night, Lieutenant Gon Taizawa resigned from the Gotei 13 for undisclosed reasons, thereby leaving the position of fukutaichou open for a successor. Also, Kuchiki Taichou asks for you, as highest ranking officer below Captain-class, to please report to the front hall of the council building at exactly 8 o' clock this morning."

His message delivered, the uniformed man stood, bowed once to the disheveled, bed-headed and confused Renji and left with a swift shunpo. Said sleep-rumpled man was left with his jaw hanging open and a hand frozen mid- scratch on his head.

_Wait… what?_

It was barely even – he looked at his clock – 6:30 in the morning and he was already being forced to think. This day was certainly starting off fun. He had a whole half-hour before he normally woke up but, instead of going back to sleep, he decided it wouldn't hurt to be a bit early to the office for once. His mind was now far too occupied and busy for sleep, anyway. As he slowly detangled himself from bed and gathered his uniform from its resting place across the back of a chair, he wondered what the hell could have happened since yesterday that would make the old man resign.

_It's not like it's a common thing. I mean, ya' hear about people here and there that just sort of drop out of sight and then ya' hear they resigned, but that's usually just the ones that can't hack the Academy. Like those real rough guys from lower Rukongai that find out this job's not just about cuttin' stuff up so they leave. Resigning's for people like that, not officers! _

He dressed quickly and began taking a comb to the nest of knots in his hair.

_Then again, everyone knew Taizawa was a bit wrong in the head; just as like to take your head off (literally!) as he was to reward a good job. Ya' never knew with him. Maybe it was the stress or something finally got to him and he said 'hell with this'. But, damn! Couldn't he have waited a few more weeks?_

Renji had never considered himself a lucky man - that was Ikkaku's thing – but neither was he terribly unlucky; so, as he grumbled aloud to himself he wondered just what he'd done in his past life to deserve this particularly annoying slice of fate.

Back in 11th company, no one ever stepped down from a position or was promoted or demoted or anything like that; if you wanted to move up a rank, you challenged the current place-holder. If you won, then good for you; you got the position and whatever privileges of rank the previous person had enjoyed. Meanwhile, the loser(if he survived) went back down to the rank-and-file to make their way back up again, or went to challenge an officer a bit further down the chain to try to keep as high a position as possible. Renji could remember a time when there had been a new person in 11th's third and fourth seats almost every other day for a month until Ikkaku finally established himself; and there had never been a week that went by without at least one moron trying for either Captain or Vice-captain, though few ever survived more than a few minutes with a blood-hungry Zaraki. But, the point was, that the positions of power were always changing and it was rare that a ranking officer in 11th ever died of natural causes or hollow-related battle wounds (though zanpaku-to wounds were common occurrences) and resignation was completely unheard of.

Thus, being used to this system of semi-anarchy that, nonetheless, worked quite well, Renji was confused. He had actually been planning on challenging Taizawa-fukutaichou in another month or so, but now that that was impossible, he was at a complete loss of what to do.

_Might as well head up to HQ. I can get my assignment for the day and hopefully somebody can tell me what's gonna happen now._

Renji quickly pulled his hair up in a tight ponytail and shoved his zanpaku-to through his belt as he wandered into the kitchen. Grabbing the last jam-bun off yesterday's plate, he shoved it in his mouth and headed out the door of his little three-room officer's apartment.

Jogging through the streets of Seireitei, he spotted Matsumoto up ahead, trudging her hangover-influenced way along the side of the road toward her own division office. He slowed down when he caught up with her, matching her snail's pace against the wall. Sneaking up behind her, he leaned around and peered up at her.

"Hey!"

Recoiling in surprise, her hand automatically came up and connected with his face with a stinging slap. Her annoyed glare softened, however, when she realized who it was; a slightly nauseous, but still welcoming smile made its way onto her face.

"Ah! Renji!" she exclaimed, completely unapologetic.

"Yowch! I hope that's not your new way of saying 'good morning'. " Despite his accusing tone, he grinned at her as he rubbed the red mark on his cheek. "Though, from the looks of you, it doesn't look like this morning is starting off too 'good' for you."

"Oh, shut up", she replied; having the grace to look a bit sheepish. Suddenly, she groaned and leaned against the building next to her, putting a hand to her forehead and closing her eyes in hopes the world would stop spinning by the time she opened them again.

"Looks like you need to cut back on the booze before going to sleep", Renji remarked, his smirk widening.

"Hah!" Rangiku laughed at him. "Like you're one to talk! You were drinking last night too, same as me and Yumi and Ikkaku and Kira! Besides, drinking doesn't cause hangovers, waking up does."

Renji laughed.

"It's not fair. How come you aren't sick too?" She seemed to have recovered a little, as she stuck her tongue out at him and mock-glared.

"That's 'cuz I ate that big dinner first. Also, I didn't drink enough sake to float a boat in.", he replied with a straight face.

"Bah!" She scowled at him in mild annoyance, but it melted away quickly and she grinned up at him again just a moment later.

"By the way, congrats!" The busty blonde lieutenant punched him lightly on the shoulder in acknowledgement.

"Huh? What for?"

"Whadda you mean 'what for'? You know!"

"Nooooo… don't think so…"

She gave him a strange look before leaning back against the wall as another spell of nausea washed over her again.

"It's not like you need to hide it; it's all over Seireitei by now so that's pretty much impossible at this point anyway. And, I'm pretty sure the others don't mind; I mean, it was half-expected you'd get there sometime soon anyway, so I doubt there's any hard feelings. They were only jerks to me about it because I was the first."

"About _what_?" the confused third-seat asked in frustration. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Ugh! Hang on a sec… I think I'm going to be sick!"

"But…!"

The blonde suddenly retched and the remnants of her meager dinner from last night made their messy reappearance at the base of the wall. Renji moved in to help her, but she flapped a hand at him to keep him away.

"Keep going, you dork!", she choked out between heaves, "I'll be fine. You're gonna be late!"

Just walking and talking, Renji hadn't noticed how much time had gone by, but now that she pointed it out, he panicked a little when he realized there was only 20 minutes until eight and he still had no idea what was going on. Frustrated, he hesitated just a little longer, but when Matsumoto only made more shooing motions, he trotted away, calling a goodbye as he went. He made it to the division office quickly, only stopping for a moment to direct an annoyed Hitsugaya-taichou to the whereabouts of his missing fukutaichou.

Walking up the steps to the office, he suddenly spotted someone running towards him. As the figure neared, he saw that it was Rikichi, that 7th seat boy who idolized him; he was a good kid, kinda creepy, but alright.

"Renji-senpai!", called the dark-haired boy, "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the council?"

"Good morning to you too, shorty," replied the grumpy red-head. "Yeah, I guess there's a big meeting or something going on. It won't hurt anything if I'm a few minutes late. It's not like it'll be the first time."

"_Eeh?!_ You've gotta go now!" shouted Rikichi, waving his arms around in agitation, "You can't be late, they might change their minds!"

"About _what?!_ Seriously, am I the only one who doesn't know why I've suddenly become Mr. Important? First it was that messenger directly from the Captain, then it was Rangiku and Hitsugaya-taichou with the congratulations… What the hell's going on?!"

He grabbed Rikichi's elbow and set off for the council building at a jog, dragging the boy along with him.

"You're coming with me and you're gonna explain on the way. I'm not letting you go until you do."

"You really don't know?" Rikichi asked incredulously.

Renji just glared, making the younger boy squeak at the dangerous expression.

"W-well, since Taizawa-fukutaichou is um, s-since he's gone now…", he took a deep breath and said in a rush, "you'relieutenantnow."

The former third-seat stumbled a bit as he ran.

"I'm _what?!_" he yelped. "How the hell did that happen?"

"You're next in line of succession."

"Huh?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot you came from 11th."Renji rolled his eyes. _I've been in sixth for five whole months, already but they just can't let that go, can they?_ "See, 11th's methods of establishing officers… it's not how the other divisions do it. Well, actually, for the ranks below Lieutenant, everyone _does_ use the duel method, but 11th is the only one that allows it for the top two seats as well. The only reason Yamamoto-soutaichou allows it is because he knows they'd keep doing it, even if a law was passed; it's just how they are. But anyway, for the rest of us there are actually two ways to become a lieutenant."

Rikichi held up two fingers, going into lecture mode as his senpai nodded vigorously beside him.

"One: you can take the adjutant's exam in the presence of the captain and current lieutenant. Or, two: when the former lieutenant becomes unable to perform his duties, the next-highest in rank succeeds him; that's you."

They slowed, having reached their destination, and stopped just outside the door; Renji released his hold on the younger boy.

"That's it?" asked Renji skeptically. "That seems too easy."

"Well, you still have to do the exam and an interview to get the approval of Kuchiki-taichou and three other captains. That's what this meeting is for. I've never heard of a third-seat being rejected though…"

The red-head grimaced.

"Ugh, I knew there was a catch. Even if I'm just about guaranteed the job… three captains plus my own… Geez, it would have been so much easier to just have a straight-up duel with Taizawa."

He took a deep breath to calm himself, then slid the door open and stepped inside, but stopped before going any further. Turning back to face Rikichi, he gave the boy a crooked smile.

"Thanks, kid. You were a big help."

The dark-haired boy blushed furiously and mumbled a disclaimer, but Renji persisted.

"Seriously, thanks for the warning. I probably would have gone in there and made a total fool of myself. Tell 'ya what; if I pass, you're invited to the party later tonight!" He slid the door shut behind him, leaving the younger boy standing by himself, red as a tomato and stunned by his idol's generosity.

Behind the closed door, Renji's smile faded quickly. He hurried down the hall, towards the meeting chamber, his mind buzzing with uneasy energy, but unable to form any direct, coherent thoughts. He arrived with just minutes to spare but the short wait before he was summoned felt more like hours. When he was finally called, he stood quickly from his place on the floor, dusted off the seat of his hakama self-consciously and entered through the tall doors.

In the time that followed, he answered questions and demonstrated his competence in various skills. Throughout the entire ordeal, he was ever conscious of his Captain's eyes on him; they never once left him as he performed his tasks. To say that they made him nervous would have been the understatement of the year. Better to say that being the sole focus of that intense, cold stare wound him as tense as a bow string about to snap. All those years ago in the academy, he had experienced that gaze for mere seconds and it had driven his breath away. And even 

now, as a battle-hardened man, that feeling was still there; the look that pierced to his soul, missing nothing and judging everything.

After the two longest hours of Renji's life, the meeting finally came to an end and he was dismissed. Later that evening found him up to his nose in a steaming bath back at his little apartment, content in his soaking and relaxed enough to be able to think clearly for the first time since he'd woken up this morning. He stared up at the ceiling as he tried to gather together everything that had had happened to him in the past 12 hours.

_Vice-Captain… seriously… ME?_

It's not like he didn't want it; it was just that he hadn't expected to have even a shot at getting there for at least another month or two.

_I don't feel any different. It's weird… like nothing really happened. I don't really know what I was expecting, but that definitely wasn't it. It was too easy. Maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet…_ He snorted upon realizing something. _I bet it'll sink in tomorrow when I come home with a sore ass from sitting so much, doing a Lieutenant-size share of paperwork. _

He made a face. _Bleh. That's the one thing I'm definitely _not_ looking forward to. I just hope Kuchiki-taichou isn't the type to shove all the paperwork off on his subordinates. _He thought a minute and mentally shook his head. _Nah, he doesn't seem like the type who'd do something like that. If anything, he's probably more the type to be a real stickler about responsibility and all that crap. _He groaned a bit and closed his eyes.

_Looks like I'm not gonna be able to get away with oversleeping a bit anymore…_

But still… the captain had been nice enough to give him today off to get his affairs in order and to start moving his stuff into the traditional adjutant's quarters, which, Renji had to admit, was definitely another big plus to his promotion. He'd stopped by to take a peek on his way back from the meeting and had been considerably impressed. The apartment had to be at least three times the size of his current home; it had a master bedroom already furnished with a king-size bed, a spare bedroom, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, a kitchen with fairly new modern appliance and a living room big enough to hold even the wildest of parties he'd ever hosted comfortably. 

Supposedly, it was all paid for by Kuchiki-taichou. Despite his being a frigid bastard, it seemed that the man cared enough about his underlings to use some of that mountain of money of his to keep his closest colleague within the division living in comfort. Renji heartily approved and couldn't help but feel a bit smug that his new home was quite a bit nicer than any of his friends', even Rangiku, Vice-captain of 10th that she was.

_Taichou's definitely not the greatest when it comes to first impressions (or second impressions, for that matter), but this certainly does a lot to make up for any sore feelings._

Snorting at the very idea of his captain's attitude hurting his feelings, he climbed out of the tub, dressed, and resumed happily stuffing the last of his things into boxes, hoping to be completely moved in by the time his friends' shifts ended.

_I just hope that _I_made a good an impression on him…_

* * *

A/N: Yo! Hope you liked it! Those of you who have read the "Turn back the pendulum" arc should get the reference to "resigning" and know what _really_ happened to Taizawa-san. -grin- I'll do my best to keep the chapters coming at regular intervals, but, well... I have the attention span of a small child on a sugar-high. So, um, like I said, I'll do my best. -sweatdrop- Anyway, you know the drill! Reviews are appreciated please! XD


	2. Hearing

A/N: I apologize for the annoyingly long author's note last chapter. It was my first post and I was excited. -sweatdrop-

Disclaimer: (see chapter 1)

P.S.: My offer for the guess-the-chapter-order thing still stands. -grin-

**IMPORTANT TIMELINE NOTE!**: This takes place about five years after "Sight" and the Aizen war-thingy is now done and over with.

* * *

_.: Hearing :._

The gardens of the Kuchiki estate were beautiful in any season. In spring, there were the Sakura trees with their elegant pink blossoms; in summer, there were cool pathways along a small stream, shaded by draping willows; and in fall, the fiery colors of the leaves before they fell were breathtaking. And then winter came again and the snow fell, coating the rock gardens with a delicate layer of white.

The twisted and pitted stones were supposed to symbolize the many facets and crevices of the mind and soul and help in the process of meditation and introspection; or so said the garden's designer. Frankly, Byakuya Kuchiki found them gloomy and depressing most of the time and the now-slightly-dirty layer of snow that had fallen a few days ago only added to the their bleak grayness; he hated the sight.

Perhaps that was part of the reason he was now walking the lower streets of Seireitei, near the wall. Normally, he would never even think of leaving the inner circle for any reason other than business but today… today he had been restless.

He gave his thoughts free reign over his feet as he strolled through the orderly streets, leaving footprints in the old snow-turned-slush, and they rested on his new Lieutenant. Well, perhaps not so 'new' anymore; Renji had been with him now for almost 5 years now, thought that seemed so short when compared to his previous fukutaichou's 50. He thought about their most recent assignment; helping 11th division to handle a pack of particularly stubborn hollows that had been plaguing a small town in Hokkaido for some time. Byakuya realized that that was the first time he'd ever actually seen his lieutenant fighting seriously at such a close proximity since the ryoka incident. He'd known Renji had grown both as a swordsman and a tactician over the years, but he had proved to be much more capable than Byakuya would have first given him credit for and had much more finesse then he would have expected from someone with a background in 11th. The man still had a ways to go before he reached Captain-level, but the potential was certainly there for greatness someday.

Before he realized what he was doing, Byakuya unconsciously began angling in the direction of the red-head's reiatsu; leading him a little farther out of the portion of Seireitei that was home for most of the seated officers and more into the 'entertainment' district consisting mostly of bars of varying shapes, sizes, and cleanliness. He finally realized where he was when he was snapped out of his reverie by the reek of sake and unwashed body coming from a man stumbling past more than three feet away. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he resisted an inexplicable, childish urge to dump the drunken man into a snowdrift to sober him up a bit and hopefully get rid of some of the stench. But, he kept walking, pulling his scarf up to cover his nose a bit more, and set a course that would eventually turn him back towards the inner city.

As the evening sky deepened quickly into early night, he realized it had been a long time since his meager lunch of tea and sweet-bread. Not really expecting anything decent in this district, he looked around anyway, surprised when his gaze lighted on a little tea-shop tucked in between two taller buildings so that it was almost obscured in shadows. Definitely not what he was used to, but it looked clean and quiet, so he entered and was seated near the back in a comfortable little out-of-the-way niche. If the woman who brought him his glass of hot, peppermint tea was surprised to see a noble in a humble shop like this, she did a good job of hiding it.

The place was surprisingly relaxing and the tea was just as good as (if not better than) what he got back at the mansion; Byakuya found himself lingering over his mug and did not refuse when the girl brought him another. Halfway through it, his serenity was disturbed by the sound of the door being flung open and six people entering, laughing loudly. He raised his head from his mug, glaring toward the commotion at the front of the room. He recognized the bald man and the pretty boy from 11th division, the huge-chested fukutaichou of 10th, that blonde boy from Third that he'd heard was going to be promoted soon and the vice-captain of Ninth with the tattoos on his face. The last person to enter was mostly obscured by the others, but the fiery red hair and voice gave him away easily as his own fukutaichou.

They had obviously just come from a bar, quite possibly one of the ones he had passed earlier on his stroll. Matsumoto still had a large bottle of sake in hand that she took a swig of every now and then. As the party settled at one of the tables near the door, their voices lowered a bit, but they were still loud enough to be heard clearly by the semi-hidden noble.

Byakuya wondered why they were here._ Perhaps to alleviate the drunkenness with something other than sake?_

Entirely without intending to, he picked up on their conversation and listened with mild curiosity as he sipped at his tea.

"-dared try and take a peek down the front of my robes! I swear, if he wasn't a Captain, I would have decked him good!"

"Well, y' can't really blame 'im. I mean, s' not like yer really hidin' anything! Yer half hangin' out all the time anyway!" said the blonde man in a heavily booze-slurred voice.

The others roared with laughter as they held back the violent woman from their brave (and very drunk) friend.

"Kira!! Dammit, Yumi, let me go, you big ass or I'll shave off that pretty hair you love so much and use it as a mop for my kitchen floor!"

Yumichika hastily let her go and as soon as she was free she smacked him upside the head before flailing across the table at the sloshed blonde with her bottle. When she finally got in a lucky shot, it caught him on the head and stunned him momentarily. She smacked him around a bit until he eventually passed out from the combined effect of the booze and the beating, his head hitting the top of the table where he commenced to snore after a few moments. Matsumoto poked him curiously; giving up on her righteous crusade to defend her chest, she leaned back heavily in her seat as the effects of her own sake binge began to finally catch up to her.

"Oi! Now who's gonna carry this idiot back home?" asked Renji suddenly, drawing attention back to himself and the inebriated Kira.

"Well, you and I are obviously the only one sober enough, and I sure as hell don't want to", commented Ikkaku.

"What?!" exclaimed the red-head indignantly. "I don't wanna have to haul his ass halfway across Seireitei!

He suddenly grabbed Rangiku's bottle dangling precariously from her fingers and downed the entire rest of its contents in several big gulps.

"There! Now, when that hits me, you'll be the most sober one!" He lips curled in a smirk of accomplishment that was just beginning to waver from the alcohol. The bald man groaned when he realized that this was true.

"Hey, how come you're not drinkin' this time, Ikka-kun?" From his observation point, Byakuya saw Ikkaku jump slightly when Yumichika breathed the question into his ear. Everyone turned to look at him in sudden curiosity and the man looked a little sheepish.

"Orders from Dr. Mom," he said, referring to the 4th's Unohana-taichou. "Remember that last nasty skirmish with that really annoyingly stubborn pack of hollows up North?" Nods greeted the reminder. "Well, I got distracted for a second and my left leg got mangled pretty good. The doc fixed it up good as new, but she said she put some medicine stuff in me that doesn't react very prettily when mixed with booze. So I've gotta lay off for a couple of weeks unless I wanna be spewing my guts up every five minutes from some nasty side-effect or something."

"Well, that sucks…" said Yumichika brilliantly from his position, leaning on his bald shinigami friend. "But, hey… how come Renji wasn't drinkin' much, either? Hey, Red, did you get all fixed up recently too, or something?"

"Don' call me that, ass-face!" complained a now-slurring Renji. "Nah, m' perfectly healthy. Not like that pansy you're hanging all over, there." Ikkaku growled and the red-headed lieutenant smirked. "S' just, me 'n Taichou just got a mission day tomorrow. Means 'm gonna be staying late at the office again. Damn paperwork… swear it friggin' breeds… mission day… wait…"

Renji's rant tapered down into annoyed grumbles but then abruptly stopped as he realized what he had said. He slapped his face into his palm, suddenly remembering the exact reason _why_ he had avoided more than one or two drinks until his slip-up a few minutes ago.

"Ah, _crap_!" He glared at the peacefully snoring Kira. "If I wake up t'morrow with a messy head, 's all your fault."

"I can take him back," said Hisagi suddenly. "He lives near me, anyway."

He stood abruptly, slung the unconscious man's arm over his shoulder and dragged him out the door, weaving unsteadily. The rest watched with amusement and a bit of concern... but mostly amusement.

"'Ya think they'll make it this time?" asked Renji with a smirk at Shuuhei's poor attempt to disguise his own drunkenness.

"Bet'cha a bottle of 'm best sake somebody finds 'em passed out in an alley somewhere," said Rangiku, pillowing her head on her arms, returning the smirk broadly.

Back in his corner, Byakuya frowned slightly. _I should tell someone of the night watch patrol to keep an eye out for them. _But, the more he thought about it, the less inclined he was to do anything. Those two would come to no harm within the walls and it might be good for them to spend the night outside; they might learn from it._ But probably not; it sounds like this is a fairly common occurrence._ He shook his head and went back to enjoying his drink, but his attention was called again by the use of his name.

"-taichou's not gonna be happy if I come in tomorrow smellin' like a bar. I should get home 'n take a shower or something an' sober up again." Renji started to get up, wobbling only slightly.

"'Y know, you're always talkin' 'bout 'Taichou this' an' 'Taichou that' an' 'Taichou says "jump"'. He must be a real hardass." Hearing this, said Taichou stiffened in displeasure at the insulting tone. Yumichika's expression suddenly turned contemplative. "He's really pretty, though. You're lucky you get to work with someone as beautiful as him."The offhand comment made Ikkaku frown beside him. Yumi smiled sweetly at the bald man and slid over to sit in his lap. "But you're the mos' beautiful one of aaaaall!" he cooed tipsily, placing his hands on his lover's shoulders and leaning in for a kiss.

Frozen in surprise and unable to turn away, Byakuya watched as they kissed deeply, only managing to look away in uncomfortable embarrassment when he clearly saw the pretty-boy slide his hands into the front of Ikkaku's kimono to touch bare skin. He heard their busty companion whoop and cat-call while Renji laughed and told them to get a room. Thankfully for the noble's flailing sense of propriety, they stopped, flushed and grinning, and Yumi slid back into his seat.

"Seriously, though", he said, resting his cheek in the palm of one hand. "How on Earth d' you stand workin' with the Soul Society's number one prude, the Ice Princess, himself?"

Embarrassment was instantly forgotten as Byakuya's whole body went rigid in annoyance this time, and if the flamboyant man from 11th could have seen the cold glare that was being leveled in his direction, he would have frozen solid on the spot. However, he remained blissfully ignorant of the captain in question's presence barely even twenty feet away and set his gaze expectantly on Renji, to his left. Despite himself, Byakuya too, found himself straining his ears to hear his lieutenant's reply.

"'Princess'?"

The way Renji was sitting, Byakuya couldn't see his face, but he really didn't need to in order to hear the raised eyebrow in his tone.

"He's too pretty t' be 'Prince'."

When they all snorted and chuckled, the noble's ire rose a bit more, but, for the sake of his curiosity, he restrained himself from making his presence known. But, what he heard next made him freeze in place, all anger instantly banished by shock.

"Yeah, Taichou's definitely a looker," said Renji.

It want so much the words as it was the subtle, almost wistful, tone to the red-head's voice that gave him pause and filled him with an inexplicable, uncomfortable tenseness. The tattooed man continued in a voice that was now heavily slurred from the effects of downing almost a whole jug of sake in less than two minutes.

"He's got that long, shiny black hair that looks like it'd be softer 'n silk an' really, really nice eyes (y' know, dark an' deep an' pretty an' stuff), an' those long, pretty hands that're stronger than they look... And he's got a nice ass."

Byakuya nearly choked.

"He's not really that bad 't work with. I mean, sometimes he can be real annoying when he starts acting like a stuck-up rich-boy with that 'greater-n'-thou' attitude. An' the fact that it's so damn hard t' read him cuz he's always puttin' up that marble-statue face. An' I think we spend way too much time in th' office doin' paperwork instead 'a fightin' out in the field. I mean, can't we just give some of the paper stuff t' Rikichi? He's third seat now and he's damn good at takin' care of th' technical stuff."

"Other 'n that, 's not so bad. 'S nice t' have a pretty face t' look at when I get bored with paperwork, an' he spars with me sometimes; teachin' me new stuff with Zabimaru and helpin' me with kidô stuff. I still suck at it. An' we talk; mos'ly like weather and stuff 'bout the division an' all, but s' nice t' relax every now and then. Oh, yeah! An' sometimes he invites me t' dinner at the mansion when we have to talk 'bout stuff that's gonna take a long time. An' there're servants for everythin' an' I get my own rooms (I swear they're almost as big as my whole apartment!). He's actually a pretty nice guy when he's not bein' a pompous prick."

When Renji stopped talking, the table was silent for a moment, but then Rangiku suddenly laughed.

"Red's got a 'thing' for Kuchiki-taichou! Man, I think you've got the lowest alcohol tolerance of anyone I've ever known!"

Renji sputtered as Ikkaku smirked and Yumichika clapped him on the back with a broad smile.

"I-I do not have a 'thing' for him!" he shouted, indignantly. "We all already agreed that he's pretty an' if it's cuz I think he's got a nice ass… that don't mean nothin'! He jus' does! Ask anybody! Jus' cuz I noticed don' mean I got a 'thing' for 'im! Hell, Baldy over there has a nice ass, Hisagi has a nice ass, freakin' Zaraki has a nice ass; that don' mean nothin'!"

But he said it with such a monstrous blush that neither his friends nor their hidden observer believed a word of it. But, Renji protested anyway and eventually changed the subject by force. With the main event now off limits, their talk dwindled quickly and they managed to drink several cups of tea each, in hopes of lessening the eventual effect of all the alcohol they had drank. They left soon after, in various stages of staggering.

It had been a whole two hours since Byakuya had walked into this humble little tea-shop, hoping only to find a good drink and some peace. He now left it, not long before mid-night, wrapped in an outward appearance of calm, though, in truth, he was anything but. Slightly dazed, more than a bit flustered and… somewhat curious, he somehow found his way home through the fog of confusion in his brain. Later, as he lay awake in his bed, trying to sort through all that he had heard, there was one thing that he kept coming back to.

_How on Earth am I supposed to act around him tomorrow?_

* * *

A/N: You know the drill, people! Constructive criticism is always appreciated! Hope you liked it! -grin-


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